Originally Posted by
acl65pilot
And you guys like to discredit the little notion of supply side economics. Squeezing the supply side so much that the vendors start looking elsewhere is a very real problem. See most of US industry and the wages we have. We have priced ourselves out of producing almost anything in this country. These responses do not effect the power players and only effect the middle class, so there is no down side to it for them, only you and I.
Oh yeah, we created laws and taxes to stop that, they seemed to have worked real well. People will create corporations outside of US jurisdiction to compete against the higher cost, where unions are illegal.
Do not think it will happen here? The power people control the majority of the legislative people, and when the costs get to high, they will lean on them to allow 50%+ foreign ownership, or do away with the requirement all together, then they will get rid of cabatoage. That will result in these alliances becoming airlines with ata codes and us becoming contractors in a portfolio where pilots from airlines and countries pay pennies on the dollar to our wages. Think of how much you will have to give up in contractual gains to stop this?
Carl and 88 will call it fear, but the simple fact is that it is real world capitalism. In this day and age there is no stopping it. They will continue to argue that it will happen anyway, and they are probably correct, but how we deal with our supply side issue in this country will dictate the severity of the response by the power and money players.
ACL...it is true for many industries...but not for pilots. Almost all airline pilots around the globe are paid better than us. Foreign pilots are not looking to take our jobs for anywhere near the current wages. Nowadays, Americans are the cheapest source of airline labor. American pilots flying for JALways were the cheapest (by far) in the JAL system. DAL south pilots who flew for KLM during their furlough were the lowest paid in the KLM system. And in Asia, pilots are paid far higher when you take the cost of living into consideration. If they allow cabotage, US airliners will be the biggest winners especailly on trans-atlantic markets.
First it was Emirates...now it is foreign pilots and cabotage. BS. So far, appeasing the regionals and keeping that memebrship seems to be the only logical reasoning behind supporting lowering the hours. Who else in their right mind will argue against raising barriers of entry in their own profession? Medical doctors and AMA did not act like ALPA when they controlled supply and put huge barriers to entry. As a result they are a very highly compensated group.
I am not willing to standby and watch ALPA ruin any hope we have in restoring our profession. NEVER EVER negotiate anything away for a future promise. (Translation: do not shoot the 1500hr down for 'promise' of a no cabotage, emirate slots etc). Ask how the pension worked out after we took a paycut to save it.